And geoege yule



(No ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. TWEEDY 8u G. YULE.

HAT BMM SOFTENBR.

No. 315,451. v Patented Apr. 7, 1885.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Mm5de11) E. TWEEDY 8v G. YULPE.A

HAT ERIM SOFTENER.

Patented Apr. 7, 1885.

(No ModeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3'.

E. TWBBDY & G. YULB.

HAT BEIM SQPTENBR. l

No. 315,451. Patented' Apr. 7, 1885.

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35 :the hollow hat driving and protecting clamp EDMUND TWEEDY, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, AND GEORGE YULE, OFr

UNITED "STATES PTA-ram# OFFICE.

NEWARK, `NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGN MENTS, TOTHE HAT CURLING MACHINE COMPANY, OF DANBURY, CONN.

HAT-BRIM SOFTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 315,451, dated April 7, 1885. Application filed September 4, 1884. (No model.) 1

'.To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDMUND TwEEDY and GEORGE YULE, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, at Danbury,Connecti cut, and Newark, New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Hat- Brim Softeners, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same. This invention consists in a heated softening-iron having a mouth with imperforatc lips adapted to admit the edge of the hat-brimand to radiate dry heat upon its opposite sides.

It also consists in means for protecting the hat-crown from the action of the heat by a hollow hat driving and protecting clamp in which the hat is preferably placed with the crown down, in means for rotating the hatclamp for oscillating or vibrating the tool in a variable manner in relation to the hatclamp, and in certain details of construction herein described.

We hereby disclaim Patent No. 240,231, in which steam is showered directly upon the hat-brim from perforations in a steam-chest. In this case the steam is necessarily condensed on the hat-brim, and as its action extends considerably beyond the lips of the steaming device the brim is liable to be softened too far, 1 so that in the curling operation directly following the brim is often bent and the hat-curl deformed.- 'The crown is also liable to be effected by the heat and moisture of such jets of steam, for which reason we have devised claimed herein.

In our invention a dry heat is obtained by radiation from the lipsmentioned above, and the action of the same upon the brinican thus be accurately regulated. 'Io secure such result more perfectly, we have deviseda means for varying thel vibrations of the heated tool,

so that with the same cam the tool may be.

made to traverse various ellipticpaths about the hat-clamp.:

In the drawings, Figure is' a side elevation .of a'inachine provided witlrpartof our improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same;

Fig. 3, a front view of the sameyFigv/i, 5cl` a section of certain parts on line m x in Fig.

l. Fig; 5 is a plan of a hat-clamp of alternative construction, such as is shown in section in Fig., 3, the hatbrim being shown about it.

Fig. 6 is a side view of a duplex pressing-iron j 55 with a part of a hat-brim inserted. Fig. 7 is a similar view with the iron in section. `Fig. 8

is a plan of the same, and Fig. 9'is'a side view of a machine with variable vibrator. Fig. 10

is a plan of such machine with the brim-plate, 6o v iron, and slide displaced to expose the parts ,j

beneath 5 and Fig. 1l is a similar view with a diii'erent form of vibrator.

A is the frame of the machine, L, the hat;` i v B, the hat-clamp; C, gears for driving the same, and D a driving-pulley.

a is theiron, and b a slide for retracting the same or adjusting it over the edge of the brim, as shown in Fig. l. The slide b is mounted v in a bearing, h, upon the carriage cl, and -is 7o;`

provided with a rack, m, and pinion n, for, j adjusting it to and from the hat-brim. i

c is the mouth of the iron, into which the i brim penetrates, and through which iti' moves g as the hat is rotated by the clamp B. 7`5

d is a carriage lmounted upon smooth rods e c, and pressed toward the clamp B'by a ljever, f, and weight f g In Fig. l the vibrator is a roller, c', ixed` on the carriage to bear against a cam, c2, t- `8e" ted to the spindle beneathfthe clamp, and by means of which the iron, when adjusted by the slide b so as to Vembrace the brim, is vibrated in a given curve about the hat-brim, and the edge softened in a specic'curve. spindle in Figs.v 1, 2, and 3 is provided witha worm-gear, C, and the pulley-shaft D is provided with a worm, C', rotating in a fixed bearing, DZ, adjacent to the wheel C. The

spindle B is mounted in an eccentricsleeve` 9o" provided with a lever-handle, C2, and the sleeve is fitted to a bearing, A', upon the frame" A beneath the clamp. j `:By turning the handle C2, as shown in the.`

dotted line C3 in Fig. u2, the spindle is moved 9 5`k away from the worm, and the movement-of? The the clamp arrested without stopping the drivingshaft D. Vhen a hat is adjusted to the iron, the handle is turned, as in full lines at C2 in Fig. 2, and the worm then actuates the spindle and clamp until again stopped.

The hat-clamp in Figs. 1 to 5 is shown as a hollow shell adapted to receive the crown of the hat, when inverted, and to cover the same while operating as a driving-clamp. The shell may act directly as the clamp or merely as a protection in combination with a clamp within it, such as is formed by the springs g, (shown in Figs. 1 and 2,) and which are fitted within the sides of the shell, to clamp the hat at a point where the band of the hat is inserted.

The shell in Figs. 3 and 5 is made in sections or staves, each secured to an adjustable radial bar, z", such as are used for expanding the periphery of a brow-block in machines for analogous purposes.

In Fig. 3 is shown the scroll s, used for expanding or contracting the bars z' simultaneously, the scroll being turned at pleasure by a stem, t, and hand-wheel H. By this construction the sfaves may be expanded to insert the hat, and the same be clamped therein either with or without a hat-block inside the crown. In any case the construction operates as a hollow hat driving and protecting clamp, and thus prevents the crown from being heated by the iron. The latter is shown herein as heated by a gas-jet, but it may be heated by an internal circulation of steam, or by hot slugs, as its essential feature is a mouth adapted to radiate heat without moisture upon opposite sides of the brim at one operation.

In the drawings the iron is shown-attached to a slide, b, which is mounted in a bearing, 7a, upon the carriage d, and is provided with a rack, m, and pinion n, for adjusting it to and from the hat-brim.

In Fig. 1 the iron is shown with a steamsupply pipe, o, and a drip-pipe, p. In Fig. 9 it is provided with a gas-jet, and in Fig. 7 it is formed open at the back to receive heated slugs.

Fig. 5 shows at G a hat-brim having a dotted curve, G', traced within its edge to represent the extent to which such brim should be softened to Curl up of the proper wid-th at the front, back, and sides.

With a cam such as has heretofore been used, and which is shown at e2 in Figs. 1, 3, and 5, it is obviously impossible to vary such curve in shape, although the iron may be set more or less over the edge of the brim by the pinion n. Ve have therefore applied to the softening machine the variable vibrator claimed generically in another pending application, No. 142,201, and have shown herein two means for varying the vibration of the carriage d at pleasure.

Figs. 9 and 10 show an adjustable crankpin, o", rotated twice for each revolution of the hat by gears 7c, and serving to vibrate the slide to and fro in any extent by means of a link, j. A screw, r, affixed in the crank, affords the means of setting the pin and holding it in the desired position.

Fig. 11 shows a lever-arm, a, pivoted at the inner side of a cam, e?, upon the spindle B', and having a slot, fu, in which the end of the link j is adjusted by means of a clamp-bolt,w. A roller,l e', upon the lever,is pressed toward the cam by the weight f, (not shown in Fig. 11,) and the carriage is thus traversed a greater or less distance as the bolt w is moved from or to the fulcrum of the lever at a. By any device equivalent to those described, the brim may be softened to the proper extent at different points to suit any subsequent curling operation perfectly.

In Fig. 9 the hat-brim is represented as lying upon a brim-plate, B2, as when softening and curling simultaneously, and in such a eonstruction we form the under lip,c,with a thin or beveled edge by which it is adapted to slip between the brim and the plate BZ, so as to separate the brim from the plate should the softening device be attached to a hat-curling machine, and the brim stick fast to the plate during the curling operation.

In Figs. 6, 7, and 8 is shown a construction for embracing the brim with pressure upon its opposite sides, the upper lip of the iron at c2 being'hinged to the lower one, c3, with a looseV joint, so as to adapt itself to the thickness of the brim, and being provided, when desired, with a weight, w, applied to its front edge, so as to press the lips together firmly when the brim is inserted. By such pressure the heat is transferred more rapidly to the brim.Y Y Y VBy theV constructions described we are able to prepare the brim in the most perfect manner for the hat-curling process, and to thus secure the best results from such operation.

Having shown various modications of form herein, we do not limit ourselves to the particular constructions described, but claim certain parts of our invention in combination with the other necessary elements in machines of other constructions. Thus,the iron having a mouth to heat both the upper and under sides of the brim at once, may be used in combination with any means whatever for holding and rotating the hat, and such means is termed herein a hat-clamp,77 whatever its construction.

Ve are aware'that a pressing-iron has been used in a curling-machine to soften the brim by operating upon its upper side only; but our invention differs from that, in radiating heat from a pair of parted lips upon both sides of the felt at once, and in sliding between the brim and the supporting-plate B2 during such operation. For that reason we make the lower lip beveled, as shown in Fig. 9, and may also bevel the lip in the direction from which the brim is turned,so as to lift it gradually from the plate as it enters the mouth c. We therefore disclaim any construction not employing opposite lips adapted to heat both IOO IIO

sides of the brim simultaneously, as a heated iron, pressing the brim toward a brim-supporting plate, tends to stick the brim injuriously fast to the plate, while our construction applies the heat much more effectively without producing any such result.

Having thus fully set forth theV nature and operation of our invention, we claim it as follows:

1. The combination, with a rotating hatclamp, of a heated softening-iron having a mouth formed with imperforate lips adapted to admit the edge of the brim and to radiate heat upon its opposite sides.

2. The combination, with a rotating hatclamp, of a heated iron having a mouth and imperforate lips constructed to embrace the brim with pressure upon-its opposite sides.

3. The combination, with a rotating hatclamp and a table for supporting the hat-brim, of a heated iron having a mouth to receive the edge of the brim and a beveled under lip to lift the brim gradually from the table.

4. The combination, with a brim-softening tool and a hat-clamp, of a worm-wheel for rotating the clamp, a worm and pulley arranged to drive the wormwheel, and an eccentric connection between the worm-wheel and worm, for rotating or stopping the hat-clamp at pleasure.

5. The combination, with a brim-softening` tool and a hat-clamp, of a hat-clamp spindle mounted in an eccentric sleeve, aworm-wheel fitted to said spindle, a rotating worm in bearings adjacent to the worm-wheel, and ahandle for turning the eccentric sleeve to disengage theworrn-wheel from the worm.

6. The combination, with a brim-softening tool, of a hollow hat driving and protecting clamp open at the top, and adapted to receive and protect the crown of the hat from heat and fao1 moisture. y

7. The combination, with a brimisoftening 1 tool, of ahollow hat-driving clamp open at the top to receive the crown of the hat, and means,

substantially as described, for securing hats of tool, of a rotating hollow hat-driving clamp and a block inserted within the hat to resist the pressure of such clamp.

1o. Themenhod hereindescribedforholding 55 y. y hats during the process of brim-softening,con l sisting inclamping the crown upon the outer side.

l1. The method herein described of protecting the hat-crown during the brim-softening process, consisting in covering the hat-crown with a hollow hatfdriving clamp. Y l

12. The combination, with a hat-clamp, a brim-softening iron, and means for rotating the hat in reference to the tool, of mechanism, substantially as described, for vibrating the tool, and an adjustable attachment for varying the extent of such vibrations, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set `7o our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDMUND TWEEDY. l GEORGE YULE. l

Witnesses:

THOMAS E. TWEEDY, Tnos. S. Ceann. 

